FAQ

How long is the Zip-It? It is 20 inches long with 18 inches of barbed length.

Is that long enough to get into the trap? Yes. Most clogs start at the stopper mechanism. Your water will start to drain slowly before there is anything in the trap.

Will it work on deep clogs? No. But, the Zip-It can prevent them. Use the Zip-It as soon as your drain begins to slow. You will yank out the clog before it has a chance to wash further down into the drain.

What does the Zip-It cost? Cheaper than chemical drain cleaners.

Is the Zip-It reusable? If you really want to clean off all that gunk, sure, you can get 3 or 4 uses out of it. But, at the price, why bother.

How long does it take to clean a drain with the Zip-It? If it takes longer than 30 seconds, you’re doing something wrong.

Who invented the Zip-It? Gene Luoma of Duluth, Minnesota.

Is it patented? Yep.

How did he think of it? One day Gene had a clogged drain and he didn’t want to deal with plunging or snaking it, or, worse, pouring harsh chemicals into his septic system. He thought there had to be an easier way. Then he noticed his daughter’s old, thin, plastic sled. It had a tear down the center of it that was rather jagged. Gene thought, “that’ll work”. So, he cut a long strip of plastic from the sled and cut some barbs into it. He pushed it into the drain, pulled it back out and the Zip-It was born.

Why didn’t I think of that? That’s what we all say.

Does he have any other ideas? Gene has loads of them.

Where can I get one? Ask for it at fine stores everywhere.

What if I have a question? Scroll down.

51 Comments

Shannon Backstrom

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!! I haven’t found anything that worked as quick and easily as the Zip-It. In less than 5 minutes my tub drain was clean and flowing again. I have been taking showers with my ankles covered in water and nothing worked.

My sister mass emailed the family raving about this product. We are a medium sized family but have all females and every drain in all our homes are clogged. We have tried every method known to man including my dad’s idea to use a reverse plunger to move the hair ball. End result-no success.

I just used Zip It it unclog my vacumn cleaner hose. It worked great because the clog was within a few inches of the end of the hose. Everyone who has a vacumn has tried a wire coat hanger…so did I. Did nothing. Please make a longer zip it just ofr vacumn cleaners. Saves a lot of frustration. PS when you make them I’ll gladly take one as payment for the idea. ;)) Thanks.

I’m sorry you weren’t able to pull out your very own drain-yeti. If you can’t even get the Zip-It down there you may have yourself a very large clog that would require heavier-duty equipment. I would suggest a Cobra Drain Snake. If THAT doesn’t work, I’m sorry to say but you might need to call in a plumber (a professional drain-yeti hunter).

My children dropped a nearly full tube of toothpaste down a full toilet and flushed. Of course, it was lodged in the “S-curve” on the way down. I panicked and started thinking about the inevitable, expensive plumber visit and bill! Luckily, I remembered the Zip-It that has kept our family’s sinks and tubs draining cleanly. I stuck it in there and twisted it around several times. The first attempt gave me a wad of paper. I tried one more time and out came the toothpaste tube!!! Thanks Zip-It!!!

Depends on the clog really. Zip-It is designed to pull out the hair that catches on the stopper mechanism on most drains. This type of clog makes up a good 90% of all clogs. So, if your clog is like most clogs, yes Zip-It will work.

If your particular clog has broken free of the stopper mechanism and has moved further down the pipes, Zip-It won’t work. But, for just a couple of bucks, it may be worth a shot before trying more expensive alternatives.

Honestly, I haven’t used this product yet. But I just want to give the Admins who update this blog a big thumbs up for giving the blog real character. Not sure I’ll check this regularly, but every post, video and photo tells me the Zip it works, and backs that up with real consumers’ experiences. Plus, the writing has personality that brings a sense of fun to a normally mundane hardware store product. Good job folks. I don’t just need the Zip it, but I genuinely like it. You generate tons of goodwill with this.

1 thing: Customize this theme and add some Zip-it brand flavor (but not too much!), so customers know they’re in the right place.

I have to admit that this is the first review I have ever left for a product.
I began my search to fix my bathtub drain with Google. I typed in “bathtub drain clogged” and just kept searching and clicking until I found out about this thing called zip it. The videos looked amazing and the price was perfect, so I went down to my local lowes and picked one up. With my 2 sons in tow to watch the action, I inserted the zip it into the drain and began pulling out the most gross piles of hair and other assorted nasty stuff. My kids were having a blast and I was struggling to hold my breath. After I had pulled all the gunk out, I put the stopper in the drain and let the tub fill up about a quarter of the way. Low and behold, as soon as I pulled out the stopper, the water began draining so fast,we simply could not believe our eyes. It was so amazing and so simple. A thousand thanks to the people at zip it for making this product. I give it 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who might have this problem.

The answer is “no”, but kind of “yes”. Zip-It is designed to grab hair caught on the stopper mechanism. Clogs in kitchen sinks are different than clogs in bathroom sinks and showers. Kitchen clogs tend to be a build-up of grease and/or food stuff – not hair. Kitchen sinks don’t have stopper mechanisms. That being said, there have been some success stories of people using Zip-It on a kitchen sink to break up what is jammed in the drain to unstop a clog. But that’s not really what it is designed for.

If you have a Zip-It lying around, go for it. It can’t hurt. If you buy one and it doesn’t work, wait awhile. Eventually your sink will get clogged

I tried it for the first time – worked great in my bathroom sink , but it was not long enough for my clogged bathtub. It brought up some hair just at the tip , so I think we “missed it by that much” , to quote Maxwell Smart. Do you make one that is extra long , and if not , do you have plans to?

I happened to just grab this off the shelf as my husband and were at a local hardware store today. He didn’t believe it would work and I convinced him because it was so inexpensive to buy one and try it. We have had a stubborn slow draining bathroom sink for awhile. So I took it upon myself to put it to use this afternoon and when I pulled out the Zip-It from the drain, I couldn’t believe my eyes or my nose!!!!
I yelled for my husband and he came in running because he thought there was something wrong…then he realized I was just so proud that I had unclogged our drain barehanded (literally)

Note to self- Next time wear gloves, and have plastic bags and paper towels at the ready
Amazing product- 5 stars for sure!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this thing! I pulled a barf worthy wad of hair out of my bathtub this morning. I think you saved my life! Now I won’t be slipping on the soap residue left in the tub from the slowly draining water.

Now for the problem of the downstairs bathroom. I can’t go through the drain on the bottom of the bathtub because it is glued in there and won’t come loose. I have to go through the overflow drain. I need a longer serrated stick of plastic!! PLEASE bring one to market!

Zip-it has saved the day many times at our house. But for some reason I still often waste about $10 worth of so-called “hair clog remover” (sodium hypochlorite Drano or an acid product) BEFORE I get out the Zip-it and solve the problem. Those chemicals cannot remove the long hair that gets wrapped around the bathtub drain plug hardware. Only Zip-it has the ability to mechanically snag that hair and pull it out !

The Zip It is amazing. I used it on two drains we’ve had trouble with. Neither responded to drain cleaner or natural products. I pulled out giant hair babies with this in seconds. Best product! It cost me less than four bucks, too.

Yes, we get requests for longer Zip-Its from time to time, but, there probably will not be an extra-long Zip-It on the market. There is a concern about getting something too long back out of your drain. If Zip-It doesn’t reach, the next trick is to use a drain snake.

LOVE THIS TOOL!!! I have unclogged my bathtub drain and my toilet!! Best money ever spent and was less than $4. I wish you made one that was slightly longer. RECOMMEND everyone have it in their household. Saved me lots of money from calling a plumber.

Hi there, I just wanted to say thank you for such an amazing product! I went to Lowes to find something to unclog my slow drain in the bathtub. I have used chemical products before, but I have never been happy with any of their results. I found your Zip-It out of the corner of my eye AFTER I had already picked up a bottle of gel un-clogger. I read through the easy, yet very thorough instructions. I decided for a fraction of the cost, I would give it a shot. I got it home and re-scanned the instructions, which even warn you about splash from pulling it out, which was a nice warning. I had never experienced clogged shower drains until I got married (wife has long hair). Sure enough, I inserted it and pulled it out and it actually freaking worked! It pulled the biggest, nastiest clump of hair out and immediately my drain was flowing again! I will never use chemicals again, you have a customer for life. I was also super amazed and impressed that it is made in the USA! Awesome! Thank you so much!

I tried this in our house, and didn’t really come up with anything despite a drain that is slow as can be and yes, long haired shower user.

It seems to get blocked from going down the full length. I’ve tried every angle I can think of, any advice? I can look down the rather fat drain hole (I pulled the cover off) and see standing water. Chemical cleaners have been known to help, but not resolve. Am I doing something wrong with the zip it or is it the shape of my drain?

Disposal tip:When finished, the Zip It is too long to fit in most bathroom trashcans. Plus, it’s nasty and frustrating to try to coil the used strip in a too-small waste basket likely lined with a thin plastic liner.

I use a pair of heavy wire cutters to chop up the Zip It into manageable sections. Just hold the gunky thing over the trash, and cut from the bottom up in 4″-6″ sections.

I agree that the Zip-it works in seconds. Unfortunately, my 1946 bathtub drain has a rather sharp turn so I wasn’t able to use it the quick way. Also, the device is too short to reach down the overflow pipe into the clog.

I ended up having to empty the closet to gain access to the access panel, try to unscrew the overflow pipe joint nut, give up and cut off the nut with a Dremel tool, remove the clog (there’s your seconds), buy a new overflow pipe seal and nut at the hardware store, clean up the old pipes, and put it all together again.

This 30 second repair took two hours, by the time I was done. But it worked!

CAN YOU GUYS MAKE A LONGER ONE? i PULLED OUT A MONSTER A FEW MONTHS AGO, AND I HAD TO GO PRETTY DEEP INTO MY SHOWER DRAIN WITH MY FINGERS (OKAY I DIDNT WEAR GLOVES) I WOULD LOVE THE OPTION OF HAVING A LONGER ONE TO BUY. I’M GOING TO BUY ALL MY COWORKERS ONE FOR xMAS.

Is the zipit used with the drain plug in the tub? I can’t get the plug out. My landlord said he would have to go through the wall to remove the plug. He suggested using zipit to clear the drain myself.

I rented a 1960′s house, the drains were plugged, after pouring chemicals down them to no avail, and trying to use a coat hanger, I remembered the commercials I saw long time ago for Zip It. I did a search on the internet, Yes! they still exist… I wonder if Walmart…yes…went immed. to Wally World, found one in Hardware section $2.50 approx., got home, immed. used it in the bathroom sink, the stopper was the kind that wouldn’t come up, barely a couple millimeters space for water to go down, it worked, then I used it in bath tub, the water was normally up to my ankles after taking a shower, it pulled out yuck, hair, mold, algae looking stuff, a crayon, etc., I just used it again as a touch up I LOVVEEEEEEEEEE Ittttttttttttt, wonderful invention. Thank you so much.

Absolutely AMAZING! Gene Luoma is a GENIUS! This $4.99 tool is worth its weight in gold…we have 2 females in the house with long hair and have had a slow drain for weeks. I used the ZIP-IT tonight and pulled out a hair ball the size of a small animal…way more effective than any chemical treatment, not to mention not one bit caustic! I will tell everyone I know how fantastic this is – thank you!

I never realized the Zip-It was supposed to be disposable. I’ve used mine dozens of times. Of course, I’ve never had a Youtube worthy clog either. I have short hair and I use it pretty regularly so, I don’t have gag inducing clogs, just irritating ones.

Two thumbs up for the Zip It! I didn’t take a picture of what came out of the shower drain, but trust me it was an enormous jaw dropping amount of long hair. This product really works and I am so glad no chemicals were needed and the low price of the product makes it affordable to everyone.

Works wonderful on my kitchen and bathroom drains….but it also works wonderful on pulling out hair from my vacuum when its clogged. Doesn’t harm it and it can go deep into the vacuum to pull out clumps of dirt and pet hair.

Wow! Wow! Wow!! I have gone through 2 different drain clog devices over the past few years and neither of them can compare to Zip-It! The inventors have raised the bar!!

My bathroom sink and bathtub were frequently plugged and the other devices only removed part of the problem and took quite some time to remove even small amounts. It was frustrating to say the least. I don’t like to use chemicals to dissolve hair, etc. I went to Lowe’s and the plumbing customer service rep highly recommended Zip-It. When I got home, within a few minutes, both drains were clear of two huge hair plugs. They were so big that I was surprised they came out of the small drain!! I should have taken photos. I am so impressed that I had to write a testimonial on here and I will let my family and friends know of this outstanding product.

Great job Zip-It team! I will be buying these for gifts in future. Every household or business should have one.